Media

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Springfield Chase Card Services rallied its employee networking organizations together last month to host a food drive for the community’s regional food bank — Ozarks Food Harvest —collecting a grand total of 11,878 pounds, or nearly six tons of food, for The Food Bank.

Groups at Chase including PRIDE, Adalante, the Working Families Network, UJIMA and the Community Relations Department, set an original goal of 8,000 pounds, but according to Chase, that number was challenged, and the final goal was increased to 10,000 pounds.

“We are extremely grateful for Chase’s support of The Food Bank,” said Denise Gibson, development director at Ozarks Food Harvest. “The amount of donations brought in by this group is extraordinary and comes to us at a critical time — when community food drives decline over the summer vacation. Community organizations like Chase are vital to Ozarks Food Harvest and the more than 53,000 individuals we reach every month.”

“Chase has always had a strong commitment to this community which is visible in the more than 13,000 hours our employees volunteered in the Ozarks last year alone,” said Erica Frazier, community relations manager at Springfield Chase. “We believe that it’s not only our responsibility as good corporate citizens, but an honor and privilege to be involved in the community in which we live, work and raise our families.”

Frazier said Chase employee, Lizz Peck, who organized the food drive, spent six hours each week on her usual day off, assisting in the collection and recording of donated food items.

“The people here at Chase never cease to amaze me; they are some of the most caring and giving people I have ever known — times are tough for everyone right now, but they put their own needs aside when it comes to helping others,” Peck said. “They cleaned out their own cupboards and even reached into their wallets to provide food for people who might not know where or when they will get their next meal.”

The grants program at the JPMorgan Chase Foundation allows Chase employees to turn their time into dollars for the agencies for which they volunteer. According to Springfield Chase, this project earned the employees a $1,000 grant to donate to Ozarks Food Harvest, as a supplement to the food donation.

Springfield Chase partners with Ozarks Food Harvest’s Weekend Backpack Program™, volunteering each week during the school year to fill more than 50 backpacks at McGregor Elementary and Williams Elementary, two of the schools that participate in The Food Bank’s program in which at-risk children receive a backpack filled with enough meals for their weekends away from school meals.

“We appreciate the opportunity that Ozarks Food Harvest has provided the employees of Chase to put food in the homes of our neighbors all over the Ozarks,” Frazier said.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest works with more than 350 hunger relief organizations, reaching more than 53,000 people each month in 29 southwest Missouri counties. The Food Bank doubled its distribution to nearly seven million pounds of food annually, the highest distribution in its 25-year history, and this is possible because of its network of charities and direct relief programs such as Kids Cafe®, the Weekend Backpack Program™, Club F.U.N.™ and the Mobile Food Pantry™. For more information, call Ozarks Food Harvest at (417) 865-3411 or visit www.ozarksfoodharvest.org.